Nike CEO is ‘excited’ about partnering with Apple for possible iWatch

When Nike announced it was shutting down its FuelBand division and exiting the hardware business, many speculated that the company would be teaming up with Apple for the long-awaited iWatch.

Nike didn’t exactly do much to cool the rumors either — issuing a statement that claimed the two companies would “continue to partner on emerging technologies to create better solutions for all athletes.”

Now Nike Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker has poured more fuel on the fire, saying that sportswear company is committed to focusing on software, and is “excited” about its relationship with Apple.

That came during an interview on CNBC. Here’s a transcription of part of the exchange (you can see the full video below):

Parker: You’re going to continue to see us commit to this area, to focus on expanding the reach. Today we have about 30 million FuelBand users. We’re hoping to push that to over 100 million. We have partners that we work with. Obviously the most visible partner we have is Apple. We’ve been working with them for a long time. And we’re excited about where that relationship will go forward.

CNBC’s Sara Eisen: Well, can you give us a hint? Are we going to expect some sort of collaborative device coming out? Nike and Apple?

Parker: I can’t really say that. There’s been a lot of speculation, which I understand. I will just say the relationship between Nike and Apple will continue. And I am personally — as we all are at Nike — very excited about what’s to come.

There are several reasons a Nike/Apple partnership makes total sense. For one thing, Tim Cook links both companies by being CEO of Apple and having sat on the board of Nike for the past nine years. For another, Nike’s FuelBand works exclusively with iOS, essentially making it a glorified iOS peripheral.

About the author:

Luke Dormehl is a UK-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems, And Create More and The Apple Revolution, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme, and other publications. He'd like you a lot if you followed him on Twitter.

lowtolerance

I don’t think there is any good reason to doubt at this point that Apple isn’t working on some kind of fitness tracking platform – whether it’s an “iWatch” or something else. Nike announcing that they are dropping Fuelband and then turning the conversation surrounding that into one regarding their relationship with Apple is a huge tell that Apple has something big in store.

I really think people are underestimating the potential of an Apple wearable, and maybe that’s understandable given what’s currently available in this category. Existing devices just don’t offer a very compelling reason to buy, and many seem to exist just for the sake of being early to market, with no real concern for implementation(Galaxy Fit comes to mind).

Mark my words: Apple is going to redefine yet another market, and soon.

http://www.applesfera.tv Applesfera

You are right about that, nobody’s messing with Apple :-)Just look at the Nike&iPod feature, it was only a matter of time when they bring out something improved and technically developed like this gadget. When it comes out, I will definetly buy it.